Pololu P-Star 45K50 Mini SV

The Pololu P-Star 45K50 Mini SV is a small programmable module featuring Microchip’s PIC18F45K50 microcontroller. It packs a Micro-USB interface and 30 digital input/output pins onto a board measuring 2″ × 0.7″ and ships preloaded with a USB bootloader, so no external programmer is required.

The P-Star 45K50 Mini SV is a general-purpose programmable module based on Microchip’s PIC18F45K50 microcontroller, which has 32 KB of flash program memory, 2 KB of RAM, and built-in USB functionality. On-board features of the P-Star (abbreviated P*) include a 16 MHz crystal, a USB Micro-B connector, and three user-controllable indicator LEDs. A switching step-down voltage regulator and power selection circuit allow the board to be powered from either USB or an external 5 V to 36 V source, while a current limit on the USB VBUS supply and reverse protection on VIN help protect it from accidental damage. The board ships with a USB bootloader that makes it easy to program the PIC microcontroller without using an external programmer.

Our comprehensive user guide provides the basics you need to get started with the P-Star as well as detailed technical information.

This product requires a USB A to Micro-B cable (not included) to connect to a computer.

Features

• Dimensions: 2″ × 0.7″ (2.05″ × 0.7″ including USB Micro-B connector)
• Programmable Microchip PIC18F45K50 microcontroller
  • 32 KB flash (8 KB used by bootloader, leaving 24 KB available for user program by default)
  • 2 KB SRAM
  • 256 bytes of EEPROM
  • Native full-speed USB (12 Mbps)
• Internally clocked at 48 MHz, resulting in execution speeds up to 12 million instructions per second (MIPS)
• Precision 16 MHz crystal
• 30 I/O lines in a small package
  • 28 user I/O pins on the two long sides of the board
  • 2 additional I/O pins available in other locations
  • 25 pins can be configured as analog inputs
  • 2 PWM output signals (one of which can be sent to four different pins)
  • 5-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) output
• Three user-controllable LEDs
• Reset button
• USB Micro-B connector
• Can be powered from USB or external source regulated to 5 V by onboard regulator
• Operating voltage: 5 V to 36 V
• 5 V logic voltage
• Auxiliary 3.3 V linear regulator
• Reverse-voltage protection on external power input
• Ships with a proprietary USB bootloader developed by Pololu for the P-Star
• Bootloader is usable from Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X with open source software
• No external programmer required
• Compatible with standard Microchip compilers, development tools, and programmers
• Comprehensive user guide

Pinout

This diagram identifies the I/O and power pins on the P-Star 45K50 Mini SV. The diagram is also available as a printable PDF (547k pdf). For more information about the PIC18F45K50 microcontroller and its peripherals, see Microchip’s PIC18F45K50 documentation.

Included hardware

Two 1×18-pin breakaway 0.1″ male headers and one 1×7-pin breakaway 0.1″ male header are included with the P-Star 45K50 Mini. These header pins can be soldered in to use the board with perfboards, breadboards, or 0.1″ female connectors.

Specifications

Resources

• Click here to view all resources
  • User Guide
  • Pinout
  • Dimensions